Tuesday, 7 June 2011

5 books that changed who I am.

Ally of Harry's Desk has linked me in a book meme! I loved this image (left) which Ally put on her post. What a great idea for a book store! Very symbolic indeed.

So the challenge of the meme was to list 5 books that have changed who I am. I've been thinking about this for a while and I do find it a challenge, because it is hard to know how different things you have read have changed you - sometimes just a sentence from here, a short story from there; and often it's books + real-life-at-that-time as they intersect - not just the books themselves. It's been fun to think this through - thanks Ally!

1. The Bible.This is the obvious one. But I've been thinking about the fact that it isn't the Bible itself that changes us, but God himself, through his Word, by his Spirit. I think sometimes when we talk about 'the Word of God' we Christians tend to get the emphasis slightly skewed and forget that Jesus - the person - is THE word of God. Jesus is the goal and the end and the whole point of the Bible, not the Bible itself. But I digress...

2. Disciplines of the Heart by Anne Ortlund. I remember the day when, sweet 16 and year 12 student, I went up to the tiny little Scripture Union store in Toowoomba on an errand with my dad and bought this book quite on impulse. I haven't read it since and don't even know what I would think of it now, but it brought about HUGE changes in my life. Something clicked. The faith I had grown up with suddenly became real and amazing to me. I started to get up early to read the Bible and pray, started to journal. I am so thankful for this book.

2. What is a Family? by Edith Schaeffer. I read this when I was in my late teens/early twenties, at the time when I was a single lass spending lots of time with Christian families from my church. I think it profoundly influenced the person that I am - the things I love, the value I have come to place on family and on my understanding of motherhood. Putting it all into practice in real life is harder now than it was to read about it back then! :)

3.The Inklingsby Humphrey Carpenter. Again, I don't know if I would enjoy this book as much if I read it again now. I first read it in 2002, on a delightful train journey from Sydney to Brisbane with Dave before we had kids. We just sat there in our seats for a full day, reading, sharing, discussing, reading some more. It was wonderful - whenever Dave and I are feeling run down and tired, that day gets a mention. This book opened up a door to me into the world of Tolkien, Lewis and Charles Williams, and it was soon after this that I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy (and from memory all the movies of them were being made around this time), and that we both started reading lots and lots of the works of CS Lewis. We worked in the UK shortly after and enjoyed visiting lots of spots related to what we had discovered in this book. Good times.

4. The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes. This book is about the early colonisation of Australia. I find Hughes' writing in this book so engaging and for the first time in my life (interestingly) have taken an interest in Australian history, rather than all the other countries I've always studied. Living in Sydney while reading this book has been excellent. Another door opened into a fascinating world...

5. Miniskirts, Mothers and Muslims by Christine A. Mallouhi. This has also been a recent read, and very topical for me given the area of Sydney in which we currently live. This book really challenged me to think hard about my attitudes towards Muslims and people of other faiths generally (often based on a lack of knowledge), and to understand them - their culture, their motivations etc, a little better. It has turned my thinking outward more, which is a positive thing indeed.

I would like to tag Sarah, Wendy, Sharon, Becky and Bethany. If you ladies want to have a go, Ally's rules are below. As for the rest of you, what book or books would be on your list?

LinkWithin

I'm Cath. I live in beautiful Canberra with my husband Dave and our two boys and two girls, aged between 9 and 4. I follow Jesus. I also enjoy of creative things, coffee, books, nice paper, good ideas, peace and quiet, and finding sanctity in the ordinary. Thanks for stopping by!